Posts Tagged ‘Thorpe Park’

Top 10 Queue Busting Tips

July 21st, 2010

Want to beat the theme park queues this Summer? Simple, just follow our 10 helpful tips…

1. Print at Home Tickets
To save time, buy your tickets to the park on line and print them out at home to avoid the queues at the entrance gates. All our themepark tickets are print at home, just print off the email attachment, stroll past the ticket queues and scan your barcoded ticket at the entrance – easy!
 
2. Plan in Advance
If you’re going in a large group, have a look at the park map and plan which rides you want to go on BEFORE you arrive. This way you’re not wasting time deciding which rides to go on all day.
 
3. Go Outside of School Holidays or during weekdays
School holidays and weekends are obviously the busiest times for theme parks, so if you can, go when the parks are quieter and the queues are shorter.
 

Stay overnight at a hotel and beat the queues the following morning!

4. Book a Break
Stay the night before your visit and head to the park ready for opening time, that way you’ll be first onto the most popular rides or stay late and enjoy the rides once everyone else is heading home and head to your hotel for the evening. In fact why not do both and book yourself in for a proper family adventure.
 
5. Start at the Back of the Park …..
and work your way forward! Everyone else will be starting at the front, so this way you’re more likely to get on the rides quicker.
 
6 Have a Late or Early Lunch
Visit the big rides when everyone else will be eating – usually around 12 – 2pm – and hopefully there will be less people in the ride queue and you may avoid the lunch queue too!
 
7. Fast Track Tickets
Although they cost extra money on top of your entrance ticket many people say they are well worth it. Fast Track tickets are a great way to beat the queues on the most popular rides. Simply pay at the stand for your ticket and head straight to the front of the queue! LEGOLAND Windsor offer Q-bot from just £10pp which queues for you on the most popular rides, you can just turn up at your allocated time straight into the fast track entrance.
 
8. Stay at the On Site Hotel
By staying at an on site hotel the night before you can be first in the queue the following morning AND beat the crowds. During school holidays Chessington give 30 minutes early ride time to those staying at the on site Holiday Inn Chessington.
 
9. Download the App
THORPE Park have now launched their app for the iPhone which helps you keep up to date with the queue times while you are actually at the park. Brilliant!
 
10. Visit the Most Popular Ride First
This way, even if you do have to queue, at least you know you have been on it! And if you get into the park nice and early, the queue is likely to be shorter.
 

Stay Longer and Save – Summers Deals Not To Be Missed!

July 12th, 2010

Turn a day trip into a mini break and keep the kids entertained for longer this summer.

With so many fantastic deals out there right now, be sure to make the most of them and get real value for money. Here’s our guide to the best offers around this summer. All you need now is your sunscreen and sunglasses and you’re ready to have some summer fun!

Stealth at Thorpe Park

LEGOLAND®
Can’t decide which them park to take the family to this summer? Well now you don’t have too. If you book a break at LEGOLAND you can get your 2nd day at the park FREE! Now the kids will have plenty of things to look forward to throughout the holidays! Hurrah!

CHESSINGTON WORLD OF ADVENTURES
If you are already planning a trip to Chessington this summer holiday you’ll want to make the most of this deal. Book now and you can stay for a second night at the Holiday Inn Chessington for only an extra £10 per room! From the huge selection of rides to the animals in the zoo, there is something everyone will enjoy.

The Eden Project

THE EDEN PROJECT
Don’t worry if theme parks aren’t your thing, you can still benefit from these summer deals. The Eden Project is the perfect place to spend a relaxing summers day walking around the beautiful gardens and taking in the Cornish scenery. If you book a break now, you will get 2 days for the price of 1. Everyone deserves a summer break so book now and make the most of this unmissable deal.

Why not turn your break into a real adventure and explore the surrounding area too. You can add on attractions at each park when you book a break and you’ll receive even more great discounts. Visit places like the London Dungeons or the Waterpark at Alton Towers and make the most of your break. Happy holidays!

Splash Out at UK Theme Parks

July 8th, 2010

Make the most of the hot weather and visit one of Britain’s theme parks for a great day out.

There are so many unmissable water rides, but don’t worry if you get soaked, it’ll take no time at all to dry off in this heat. Here’s a list of the UK’s very best water rides for you to enjoy this summer. See how wet are you likely to get with our very own SOAK-O-METER! Whether you want to get absolutely soaked or you want to try to stay mostly dry, there’s something everyone will enjoy.

Tidal Wave

1. Tidal Wave at THORPE PARK
The Tidal Wave flume at THORPE PARK is not for the faint hearted! Not only will you plummet at a massive 85ft, you will get VERY, VERY wet. If you really need cooling down, stand on the bridge by the ride and get soaked by the enormous wave without having to go on the ride. The thrill seekers among you will want to go on again and again. It’s the perfect ride on a very hot day.

SOAK-O-METER rating: 5/5 Absolutely soaked!

2. Rameses Revenge at Chessington World of Adventures
Prepare to get very wet on the Rameses Revenge at Chessington. You will be turned upside down and round and round, while being drenched by the giant water fountains that will be spraying into your screaming faces! Definitely one for the adults, you will love this iconic ride.

SOAK-O-METER rating: 4/5 Very wet!

3. Congo River Rapids, Alton Towers
Most of the theme parks have a rapid river. In this one the giant inflatable rings float around a giant river while you get sprayed with waterfalls, shoots and other surprising features. Staying completely dry is near enough impossible unless you protect yourself in a waterproof poncho. It may not be the most stylish accessory, but it’s a theme park necessity!

SOAK-O-METER rating: 3/5 Take your waterproof!

4. Depth Charge, THORPE PARK
Have a race with your mates on this giant water slide. Shoot down the slide on a yellow inflatable boat and see who gets to the bottom first. You don’t get THAT wet on here, it’s all about who reaches the bottom first! Don’t worry, this is nothing compared to the Tidal Wave.

SOAK-O-METER rating: 2/5 Just enough!

5. Monkey Swinger, Chessington World of Adventures
This is a great ride that the whole family can enjoy. The monkey swinger is basically a giant carousel with swings and water shoots that soak you as you go round and round. This is great fun on a summer’s day, and even the faint hearted among you will enjoy this gentle swing.

SOAK-O-METER rating: 1/5 A light spraying!

Is it Right that ADHD Sufferers Jump the Queue?

September 11th, 2009

Highlighted last week in The Times, hyperactive children are able to skip queues at major theme parks in and around the UK.

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Though it may come as welcome relief for parents whose children suffer from attention-deficit disorders, teachers have hit out at the move, saying that it undermines their efforts to teach children how to be patient.

The question is: are teachers right to criticise the scheme?

A difficult one, isn’t it?

Not for Andrea Bilbow, it isn’t. The chief executive of the National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service (ADDISS for short) has clearly made up her mind on the issue. She reacted rather glibly to the teachers’ growing concern by telling The Times: “I know many primary schools let children with ADHD go ahead at dinner time and it stops scenes, what’s the problem?” She even hinted that “criticism of the tactic showed that teachers were ignorant of the condition”.

Blimey.

Bilbow explains: “Children with ADHD are very impulsive and just can’t cope in a queue or when there is a delay in gratification”.

Fair enough, I suppose; I mean, when you put it like that. But then, shouldn’t kids with ADHD learn to deal with having to wait for things? When will they learn otherwise? You can’t be 36 and just barge in at the front of the queue in Homebase – someone will tip a load of compost down the back of your jumper or something.

Now, I wouldn’t even pretend to know the complex ins and outs of dealing with a condition like ADHD, but just the teensiest bit Googling will throw up all sorts of criticisms over the stance taken by Ms Bilbow. It’s a contentious, if not rather grisly topic.

The Disability Discrimination Act currently puts the onus on the attractions to accommodate all visitors. Theme parks around the EU are somewhat forced, therefore, to follow government orders.

Thorpe Park are being very diplomatic about the whole affair. A spokesperson for the Surrey-based theme park told The Times: “Any guest that can provide a letter from their doctor that describes their illness or disability and states that they cannot stand in a queue is provided with a priority wristband.”

That, I suppose, is the fairest way to broach the subject for the time being. But what about the future? Should kids with attention-deficit disorder be allowed to skip in front of everyone else just because they can’t be patient? I mean, how many six-year-olds do you know that have the patience of a saint? My mum and dad had to stop buying me advent calendars when I was about eight because I used to scoff all 24 chocolates by noon on December 3. Of course, the counter argument is just as telling: should ADHD kids be forced to wait around in line, regardless of how much torrid distress they’re put through?

It’s a tough call, certainly. We’d love to hear what you think though.

My Favourite Ride – SAW: The Ride

June 9th, 2009

imagesSAW: The Ride has to be one of my favourite rollercoasters of all time. I love the ride itself, the only drawback is the queue but waiting in line for a little while is a small price to pay. When you get to the front and start getting ready to get on the ride itself, the queue suddenly becomes worth the wait.

 When you sit down on SAW: The Ride you don’t really know what to expect because when you are queueing up, you only see small bits of it.

When your carriage first starts to move you expect there to be something like a sharp turn or a vertical climb, but it’s even worse. SAW: The Ride starts off with a calm 180º turn to the right, fooling you and making you think that the ride is calm but just as you start to relax there is a vertical drop right after the turn. Straight after the drop there is a sequence of sharp turns to the left and right, and there are also some small hills, just enough to unsettle your stomach ever so slightly. You then go around the first loop which thankfully, looks far worse that it is.

Soon after you get to the scariest part of the ride. You slow down until you are at a stand still, and then the chain hooks onto the underneath of the carriage and you begin a slow vertical climb which takes you to the top of the ride. This is where things start to get a bit more scary because as you get to the top, you dont have enough time to even say a word and you immediatly get unhooked from the chain. 

You plummet down a 100 foot, 100º drop passing underneath loads of spinning axes which are very close to your head. When you have passed those you start a big loop which makes you feel like you are about to fall out of the seat. Once you have gone through the loop you go through various different drops and do many sharp turns and corkscrews until you reach the end of the ride.

 When you step out of the ride you may not realise it but you are still screaming and you can barely stand up on your own legs, but then you come to your senses again and tell everyone that the wait is really worth it and that the ride is epic.

Published by: Alex Zerbino – The Harvey Grammar School

New Ride At Alton Towers

April 24th, 2009

A little while back we reported how Alton Towers had confirmed plans to build a new ride in 2010 under the name Secret Weapon Six. Now, in true Play and Stay Blog style, it is time for a spot of speculation.

Normally I would leave this sort of thing to Jonathan Buckingham-Dudley, but he is far too engrossed in what is happening to Susan Boyle. So, for this instalment at least, you have the pleasure of my company.

First of all, a big thank you to Screamscape for supplying me with the crumb-trail. Without you, I really would have had no work to do this afternoon. And while for some that sounds like a marvellous thing, it doesn’t half make hometime a long way away.

There are three videos on YouTube at the moment. The beginnings of a new viral promotion or merely fan fiction? You decide:

Now, I don’t know about you, but I get the distinct feeling that Alton Towers are also going for something a bit spooky in much the same way Thorpe Park did earlier this year when they unveiled SAW – The Ride.

The difference being, of course, is that Alton Towers is aimed at a younger market – so we can expect it to be a little tamer than the aforementioned.

We also reported that the ride will have a backwards section, somewhat similar to Disney’s Expedition Everest ride (see above video). A quick glance at the plans below, which were submitted to the local council by Alton Towers, clearly shows the point where the ride stops its forward motion, in favour of a backwards section.
Secret Weapon Six

At this time, this is all we really have to go on, but fear not – we are on the case and will bring you all the latest as and when it hits.

Oh, and one last titbit for you. Here’s a video of the locals’ reactions to the ride. Some good, some bad. You can decide for yourself what you think.